Mcncln, Instead of going to the dentist, think she should have gone to a hat shop! Thanks for sharing the crazy fly-away hat!
I just lost an hour of my life, getting off an 82 member Zoom meeting! I’m going out to mow the lawn now!
Happy weekend, hat lovers!

Yes mittenmary, I had the pleasure of seeing this brooch from about a foot away, at the Cartier exhibition when it came to Australia in 2018. Nothing beats seeing jewellery up close. The size of this whopper is just right — corsage size — not overwhelming, surprisingly non-heavy in appearance, yet impossible to ignore.

Congratulations, Hat Queen! You’re on a winner here: this thread really hit the spot! I’m a retired academic and, if I might say, the research skills demonstrated by participants to this post (and many others) are of the very highest order. Enjoying the fruits of your labours hugely!

This one so reminds me of a hat you might see in a Dr Seuss book … sort of like a question mark hovering there. I don’t dislike the hat though and if anyone could pull this off it would be Max. Love her.

thankyou hq for the posts – some of Maxima’s are new to me. whilst not to everyone’s taste, you have to give respect for trying something new, and ‘out there’.
but your post on (the also new to me) queen Margrethe and the ‘adidas stripes’ was tops – it really made me giggle. thankyou!

now dont get me wrong – i think the cowessex is beautiful, and has great style, and i applaud her for trying out new things. she has some amazing hats, especially from recent years as her sense of style has developed, but you have to admit that there have been a few mistakes on the hat front.. here’s a few feather explosions (the first is rather eye-catching, and she looks beautiful, but for me there is a sense of a ‘bird flies into hat incident’!)

Sirlancelot:
1. I had to read “cowessex” twice before I got the idea – my first thoughts had something to do with the BBC and David Attenborough!
2. All these feathery confections that you have so wonderfully shared today remind me of all the ornithological activity I’m witnessing in my yard these past 3 weeks. A once seed-covered Christmas gift is now home to a Carolina chickadee. Really cool.

thanks Jimbo. sorry for any confusion – ive just read it back, (and no offence meant to hrh – perhaps i should left a gap ie co wessex). and your yard scene sounds beautifully springlike. post us some pics…

Indeed! The other design in Queen Silvia’s closet that I find odd is this one. On its own, the hat is an odd proportion (weirdly tall for a brimless hat) which seems emphasized by the black and silver firework on the sideEmbed from Getty Images

Jake, call me crazy but I actually don’t mind this hat of Mathilde’s. I’d change two things:
1. Make the band the same solid dark color of the pattern. (I can’t tell if it’s chocolate or licorice . . . can you tell I’m hungry as I write this?)
2. I’d ditch all that fray trim.

The examples shown on this post have inspired me to think that all of us could now turn to designing hat embellishments out of whatever things we have laying around our houses, since we are not allowed to leave them. My first effort will involve a box of obsolete cell phone chargers.

(With apologies to Wies and any other professional milliners who design actual beautiful hat embellishments!)

Here are more views. Few headpieces have annoyed me more than this one. Queen Mathilde’s is marginally better – the curve of is much more elegant but the way those feather spines are wrapped at the bottom is so awkward – but still not great. Both were from Fabienne Delvigne and I thought it was highly suspect that they appeared a year after Beatrice Borromeo’s beautiful Philip Treacy (which had appeared in his collection so had been in the works even earlier) design.

HQ, your comments help me discern the difference between the Phillip Treacey and the two knock-off versions. I’m still not sold on the idea, but I can appreciate the artistry of the original. Of course, it helps that BB is so stunning — she can sell just about any look.

No doubt- this is an avant garde headpiece that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. You’re right- it’s not just the design and its execution that are important, but how it works for the wearer. And what clothing it’s paired with! That’s why, whenever possible, I include a head-to-toe photo of each hat we admire so we can evaluate it in context!

Princess Margaret (1966). I’ve long been waiting for an opportunity to post this one, it’s bonkers. There used to be a front shot available through Getty but I couldn’t find it today. The ‘hat’ is sort of like a half tea-cosy with the bow right on top of her head.

in a similar vein to princess anne’s fruity number below, there is also this black and yellow hat (classic hm 80’s styling) worn in 1988, which has the odd balls/fruits? strangely attached – i dont quite understand the need or point of them???

With regard to the black and yellow hat above, I’m thinking that perhaps there was a shortage of silk at that time, so, being unable to obtain silk flowers, the milliner put those fruit-like round balls on the hat instead.

the first that came to mind for me was this very odd hat worn by the princess royal easter 2009. i am a fan of anne, her quirky clothes sense, and her penchant for recycling, and i appreciate anne does not particularly follow fashion, but this was just odd for me. its a very simple ‘rustic’ hat with a few crazy fruit pieces (marzipan fruits???) stuck on the back!

Ah yes, Dahlia-Jun, Princess Claire is a strong contender; I think she’s right up there with Princess Beatrice. The 2008 tulle dandelion you cite gives her a total of 2 jaw-dropping entries. I’m not sure if it counts as a hat — but what a fascinator! surely it originated in a bridal salon. I swear I have seen modern veiling like this one on brides in “Say Yes to the Dress”. Embed from Getty Images